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ON FIRE LARRY SCHWARM

MINER OF THE GENTER FOR DOCUMENTARY STUDIES, HONICKMAN FIRST BOOK PRIZE IN PHOTOGRAPHY

PUBLISHED BY DUKE UNIVERSITY PRESS AND LYNDHURST BOOKS OF THE CENTER FOR DOCUMENTARY STUDIES DURHAM AND LONDON 2003

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FOR PEG BICKER

MY WIFE, MY BEST FRIEND, MY MOST RESPEGTED CRIMG, AND MY SECOND SEP OF EYES— YOU'VE MADE MY WORLD MUCH LARGER

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INTRODUCTION BY ROBERT ADAMS PHOTOGRAPHS Aen ORD) INDEX ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

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INTRODUCTION BY ROBERT A Blau

Larry Schwarm’s photographs of fire on the prairie are so compelling that | cannot imagine any later photographer trying to do better. His pictures convince us that seemingly far away events are close by, relevant to any serious person’s life.

The photographer engages our attention first by heightening our amazement at the sensuality of fire. Most of us have enjoyed looking into a fireplace, but few of us have observed as well as he has the astonishing shapes and colors and fluidity of fire. He is so skilled in recording its appearance that occasionally we almost hear the burning and feel the warmth.

My father and | used to burn off a field in Colorado, and | remember the smell of grass smoke, acrid and sweet at once, resolving somehow the contradictions of the seasons. It is a memory that helps me understand the calm that seems to permeate the charred ground of Kansas.

lf Schwarm enlists our interest by showing us the appearance of fire, he sustains that interest by suggesting what it might mean. To do that he must be familiar with his subject, have a dis- ciplined command of his medium, see accurately and so compose effectively, and then select for his book just those pictures that convey what he intends.

What do the photographs mean? We recoil from that question in fear that the pictures might wither to abstraction, but their sensuality saves them. In any case we all do look for meaning in

life and thus in art, its reflection. How could we not, since the two most evident characteristics of

life, beauty and suffering, seem a contradiction that undermines meaning, or at least obscures it.

Because Schwarm has chosen to include in his book views of beauty at so many different hours of day and dusk and night, and because he shows us beauty even after destruction, the pictures suggest to me that beauty lasts forever. As in the paintings of Frederic Church and the music of Beethoven and the poetry of Robinson Jeffers, it is the only answer that Nature appears to give us. It may feel a cruelly abbreviated reply, as cold as Church’s pictures of ice- bergs, but there is no appeal. Our choice is ultimately whether to say yes to what cannot be avoided—lying down in glory with the burning grass and trees.

The prairie has often been compared to a seascape made of earth and air. Schwarm’s pictures add to that the missing fourth element, helping us to understand.

Many of us would probably say, | think, that there is at least one other truth relevant to affirm- ing life, one equal in significance to an awareness of natural beauty. William Blake wrote of it: “Mercy has a human heart, Pity a human face.” Though as a landscape photographer Schwarm does not include people in his photographs, he does imply in the accompanying text something important (Dorothea Lange noted that successful pictures often depend on captions): the fires on the Flint Hills are now usually set and shaped by people who want, in so far as they under-

stand, to help heal the earth.

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Everywhere ahead in the surrounding dark, the land not separable from the black sky, stretch orange lines of fire, red-gold on jet, angles and curves, oghams and cursives of flames, infernal combustings, and a pall rising and surrounding and seeming to make the valley a smoking pit. What city of burning light is this, and how could | have so lost my way to come into it and not know it?

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AETERW ORD

Photography has the remarkable power to impress into memory a distillation of a particular s¢ of time. The desire to hold memories of how a moment looks, smells, and feels led me to le

a photographer. Since ancient times fire has been considered one of the four elements, along with earth, ¢

the tallgrass prairie, the Flint Hills in east-central Kansas. Fire is essential to the prairie ecosystem. Without it, the prairie would have grown into seri se) forest. Before human habitation, unbroken expanses of grasses as tall as eight-feet high would

catch on fire and burn for hundreds of miles. Native Americans set fires to entice bison to the

new grass that replaced the burned. European settlers adapted the practice and burned to encourage new growth for their cattle, as well as to kill invasive trees and weeds. What started as a natural phenomenon became an annual event controlled by people. The metaphor is obvious— without destruction there is no rebirth; for every act there is an opposing one.

The work in this book represents twelve years of photographing the controlled burning that occurs every spring in the Flint Hills. | never intended to document the fires in the strictest sense of the word, but rather to capture every essence of them, from calm and lyrical to angry and rag- ing. | discovered in the fires’ subtleties and abstractions a Spirituality akin to what Mark Rothko expressed in his color-field paintings. These qualities, both quiet and other-worldly, form what | see as the sublime and mystical character of the burning landscape, where images are at once both sensuous and menacing.

| grew up on a farm in south-central Kansas. To describe it as subtle is something of an over- statement. There were no trees, no hills, and what water there was formed a muddy pond, more often dry than full. Neighbors lived miles apart; anything that happened was an event. That seem- ingly empty landscape taught me to look very carefully, for which | have always been grateful. No matter where | am, no matter what I’m looking at, my point of reference is the minimalist landscape

of Kansas where | first observed the world.

DINGIERE ZS

- Comet Hale-Bopp and fire, south of Emporia, Kansas, 1997 _ Prairie fire near Cottonwood Falls, Kansas, 1997

_ Fire and pond, Chase County, Kansas, 1999

_ Inferno, southern Lyon County, 1999

aL 2 3} 4 5. Fire on Nelson Pasture, Lyon County, Kansas, 2002 6. Head fire, Greenwood County, Kansas, 1998

7. Three trees burning, Z-Bar Ranch, Chase County, Kansas, 1994 8. Line of fire, Chase County, Kansas, 1994

9. Waves of fire near cattle pens, Chase County, Kansas, 1990

40. Fire with full moon, Chase County, Kansas, 1993

1

11. Grass and burned field, Lyon County, Kansas, 1991

42. Bluestem grass, Lyon County, Kansas, 2000

13. Dragon on Meyer’s Farm, Lyon County, Kansas, 1991

44. Head fire, Chase County, Kansas, 1998

15. Burning grass along drainage ditch, east of Emporia, Kansas, 2000 46. Fire and wind, Chase County, Kansas, 2004

17. Burning grass, Lyon County, Kansas, 1994

48. Flames and rocky landscape, Chase County, Kansas, 1998 19. Fire (before and after), Lyon County, Kansas, 1992

20. Fire whorl, Lyon County, Kansas, 1994

21. Fire whorl (seconds later), Lyon County, Kansas, 1994

22. Pasture fire on Road 140, Lyon County, Kansas, 2001

23. Fire along Highway 50, near Saffordville, Kansas, 2002

24. 25. 26. Zi 28. Zor 30. cue 32, is} 34. SDs 316) aT 38.

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Overlook with fires on horizon, Chase County, Kansas 4 Overlook two weeks after burning, Chase County, Ka Two hills with burned grass, Chase County, Kansas, Fire lines, Chase County, Kansas, 1990 ) Flame, Morris County, Kansas, 2001

Raging fire, CRP land, Lyon County, Kansas, 20014 After prairie fire, Chase County, Kansas, 1998 '

Fire near Cassoday, Kansas, 1990

Fire, Easter night, Chase County, Kansas, 1991 Earth, fire, and water, Z-Bar Ranch, Chase County, Kans Burning cottonwood tree, Chase County, Kansas, 1994 Prairie fire near Cassoday, Kansas, 1990 Brush fire along Mudd Creek, Lyon County, Kansas, 1998 Blue moon, Chase County, Kansas, March 1999

First fire of 1999, north of Emporia, Kansas

Su: 40. At. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49,

50. pda oe SIS). 54. 5b: 56. Die 58. 59! 60. 61.

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Burning tree with Ryder sky, Chase County, Kansas, 2001 Flames, Morris County, Kansas, 2000

Grass, CRP land, north of Olpe, Kansas, 2000

Dancing flame, Lyon County, Kansas, 2000

Prairie fire near cattle pens, Chase County, Kansas, 1998 Light from fire near Chase County Lake, Kansas, 2000 Diagonal fire at sunset, Chase County, Kansas, 2000 Jacob’s Mound, Chase County, Kansas, 1992

Burned field, south Lyon County, Kansas, 1991

Yellow smoke, Lyon County, Kansas, 1995

Grass fire near Kingman, Kansas, 1997

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Rock quarry, east of Cottonwood Falls, Kansas, 2000 Fire on Highland Ranch, Chase County, Kansas, 1996 Night fire near Bazaar, Kansas, 1990

Rocky landscape after burn, Chase County, Kansas, 2000 Sunset with fire, Lyon County, Kansas, 2001

Fire, near Chase County Lake, Kansas, 2000

Fire lines at twilight, southern Lyon County, Kansas, 1999 Along Highway 99, north of Olpe, Kansas, 2001 Afterglow near Elmdale, Kansas, 1997

Burning cow chips, western Lyon County, Kansas, 2002

Fire with tree on Nelson Pasture, Lyon County, Kansas, 2002

Smoke, Franklin County, Kansas, 1993

62. 63. 64. 65.

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Burned pastures at dusk, Chase County, Kansas, 1999 Smoke, Lyon County, Kansas, 1999

Flames, southern Lyon County, Kansas, 2000 Mushroom-shaped smoke, near Lyon and

Chase County line, 1992

Fire on Mai’s Pasture, Lyon County, Kansas, 1999

Flint Hills at sunset along Sharpe’s Creek Road,

Chase County, Kansas, 1990

New grass about two weeks after burning, Chase County,

Kansas, 1996

ACKNOWLED GM Eis

Where do you start? How do you end? There have been so many people that have influenced and helped me along the way. ? Years ago, still in my photographic youth, Jim Enyeart included me in his National Endowment Survey Grant which helped me realize my connection to the land. His early guidance and Sup port was invaluable. The Morgan Gallery in Kansas City was the first to handle my wo K ar make me believe that | was a “real” artist. Merry Foresta at the National Museum of A ner ar Art included my work in the exhibition that forever cemented my dedication to this fire proje | There are dozens of other museums and galleries that have shown my photographs and encour- aged me to keep working, and | thank them all. The Mid-America Arts Alliance and the Kansas Arts Commission awarded fellowships th : allowed me to purchase equipment and take necessary steps in my pursuit. Emporia State University, where | teach, has been wonderfully supportive with time and resources. My leagues, especially Dan Kirchhefer, Elaine Henry, and Ann Piper, offer insights and inspire me.

My students challenge me and keep me on my toes.

This book is what | have always dreamed of for this project. Without Lynne Honickman’s gen- erous support through the Honickman Foundation this publication would not have happened. Iris Tillman Hill and Alexa Dilworth at the Center for Documentary Studies have been wonderful to work with and have helped to shape the sometimes overwhelming pile of photographs into a coherent body of work. Yolanda Cuomo is responsible for the beautiful design of this book. Thanks to all the behind-the-scenes staff at CDS for making this a reality.

| want to especially thank the ranchers and landowners who allow me, sometimes even encour- age me, to trespass on their land to get to the fires. They’ve offered advice, opened gates, given me rides in their trucks, and even pulled my car out of a mud hole. In twelve years and hundreds of fires, the harshest words |’ve heard have been to be careful and don’t sue ’em if | get hurt.

They are great people who love their land. | hope I’ve done you proud.

The Honickman Foundation in collaboration with the Center for Documentary Studies issues this inaugural prize book as

a tribute to the memory of Michael E. Hoffman

Publisher, editor, and champion of photography 17427 00)

both as an art form and as a tool for social change.

ieee FOR DOCUMENTARY STUDIES 7 HONICKMAN Pa esi is ON@e CVPR) 2 ee Nee lO dm ORG Ay eV aki me

This biennial prize offers publication of a book of photography, a $3,000 award, and inclusion in a traveling exhibition of prizewinners. Each year a distinguished individual in the field of photography is chosen to judge the prize and write an introduction to the winning book. The prize is open to American photographers who use their cameras for creative exploration, whether it be of places, people, or communities; of the natural or social world; of beauty at large or the lack of it; of objec- tive or Subjective realities. The prize will honor work that is visually compelling, that bears witness,

and that has integrity of purpose. On Fire is the inaugural book in the series.

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The paper for this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the

. am 4 Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources. — S de i Associate book designer: Kristi Norgaard Manufactured in Great Britain

Cover photograph:

Fire near Cassoday, Kansas, 1990

Back cover photograph: Prairie fire near Cassoday, Kansas, 1990

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Schwarm, Larry W. On fire / Larry W. Schwarm. p. cm. ISBN 0-8223-3208-6 4. Photography of fires. 2. Grassland fires—Pictorial works. 3. Schwarm, Larry, 1944— |. Title. TR820.S358 2003 779’ .3-de21 2003005384

Duke University Press Box 90660 Durham, North Carolina 27708-0660

www.dukeupress.edu

Lyndhurst Books, the imprint of the Center for Documentary Studies,

are published with support from the Lyndhurst Foundation.

Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University

http: //cds.aas.duke.edu

First printing

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